Redskins will not let Kirk Cousins hit free agency in the offseason
Redskins will not let Kirk Cousins hit free agency in the offseason
Jason La Canfora / CBS Sports NFL Insider
December 20, 2015 12:10 PM
Redskins starting quarterback
Kirk Cousins will be back with the team in 2016, even if it requires applying the franchise tag to do so, according to sources with knowledge of the situation. The club has already expressed its intent to sign Cousins long-term to his representatives. Washington's football people have been won over by the play of the former fourth-round pick, as well as how he has conducted himself during a trying four years with the club, and they have vowed not let him hit the open market.
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Cousins has been highly productive in 2015, his first season as a regular starter, and has flourished in the offense despite having a shoddy running game. His rookie contract expires after the season, and Washington wants to sign him to an extension, sources said, and would franchise him if need be, even at the cost of $19 million. That would give the franchise until July to enter into a multi-year deal with him, which is the desire.
The organization is sold on Cousins' overall ability, loves his character and leadership skills and has been impressed with how his teammates have rallied around him, uniting a locker room that was often divided during the stint of
Robert Griffin IIIunder center. While Cousins may not project into being an elite starter, the organization certainly feels it can win with him and that he could provide the sort of stability long missing from that crucial position in Washington.
It doesn't make much sense for Cousins to engage in contract talks now -- he continues to accrue leverage with each strong outing -- but the Skins have made it clear to his camp they are ready to engage in discussions whenever he is ready, and they fully intend to begin negotiations shortly after the season and by the February scouting combine, sources said. Other teams in need of a quarterback have essentially written off Cousins as a free agent option -- "He isn't leaving there; absolutely no way (general manager) Scot (McCloughan) is letting him walk," said a high-ranking official of one quarterback-needy club who values Cousins highly.
Several rival executives have pointed to Chiefs quarterback
Alex Smith as a potential comparable to Cousins in terms of his production and possible contract compensation. Smith is making roughly $15 million a year and received $45 million fully guaranteed; Cousins may not reach that level of guaranteed money in the deal, but then again, many view him as the top potential free-agent quarterback available, and the costs of quarterbacks only continues to soar.
Washington may be able to structure a deal that is pay-as-it-goes on a yearly basis beyond the second year of the contract, and already had $16.7 million earmarked for Griffin as part of a fifth-year option it had picked up. Simply shifting those fund to Cousins would likely cover his 2016 compensation as part of a longer-term deal without impacting the budget.
Cousins leads the NFL in completion percentage this season, is on pace to surpass 4,000 yards passing and has 12 touchdowns to just three interceptions in the past seven games. He has completed at least 69 percent of his passes in each of the last five games and has curbed his turnovers dramatically in the second half of the season. On a rebuilding team with many other holes to fill, the Skins feel very comfortable about what they are getting out of the quarterback position, and Cousins is very likely to be there for years to come.
@mrken12 lost
